Friday Night, June 6, 2008

Friday Game Notes

Hello everyone! Well, the draft is complete. IF you want to see the names of all 52 players that the Twins draft, please click here and then be sure to check out the Comments where there is a lot of information and scouting reports on most of the draftees. Speaking of Twins draftees, "The Controversial One", Carlos Gutierrez, threw two shutout innings for Miami in their Super Regional game last night against Arizona. Unfortunately, with one out in the bottom of the 12th innings, he gave up a three run homer to take the loss.

 

A couple of thoughts from others on the Twins draft. But also be sure to check out John Sickels Twins Shadow Draft, something he has done the last several years. He decides who he would take if he were the Twins Director of Scouting. It is then something he monitors over time:

 

From Marc Hulett of The Baseball Analysts:

The Twins grabbed (surprise, surprise) a raw, toolsy prep player with Aaron Hicks and then balanced that out (I guess) with a "safe" pick of college reliever Carlos Gutierrez, a player the club probably could have gotten with its supplemental first round pick (or even its second round pick). A lot of analysts were baffled by that pick. Even so, Twins fans should be ecstatic with the club's next two selections in Shooter Hunt and Tyler Ladendorf. Hunt has a poor finish to his season, which slid him out of mid-first round consideration. Ladendorf is a junior college shortstop that can absolutely hit - something the organization could really use, if the kid can stick at shortstop... which is up in the air. A year after taking Angel Morales in the third round, the club took another top-rated Puerto Rican with its fourth round pick with outfielder Danny Ortiz.

From Matt Meyers of ESPNMag.com:

On Aaron Hicks:

This is a classic Twins pick. Not only do they love athletes, but they also aren't afraid to take chances. Most clubs preferred Hicks as a pitcher, but he made it clear he didn't want to pitch in the pros. As it turned out, the Twins were one of the few clubs that preferred him in the outfield, so it was a match made in heaven.

And if all else fails, he can always try the mound. Maybe he's the anti-Ankiel.

On Carlos Gutierrez:

Our first true surprise pick, and our fifth (yes, fifth) college reliever of the draft. Once again, the Twins prove they're not afraid to take chances. After all, this is the same club that gave the aforementioned Jason Tyner and his career .323 slugging percentage 69 plate appearances as a DH in 2007. Now that's living dangerously.

From Jim Callis in a Baseball American Draft Day One Q&A:

Q: 
Nils from Brooklyn asks:
Hey Jim - How do you rate the Twins Day 1 overall? I am really excited by the Hicks and Hunt picks but like most, I am perplexed by the Gutierrez pick - much the same as last year's Revere pick. Is there anything to the assertion that they will try to convert him to a starter?
 A: 

Jim Callis: They really wanted Hicks and got him, the outfielder with the best tools in the draft. There's talk about a shoulder impingement with Hunt (something the Hunt camp denies), but if he's healthy, that's a very good value at No. 31. Gutierrez surprised me too but they do plan on turning him into a starter. His sinker is very good, and he'll still rely heavily on it as a starter. I also liked the Tyler Ladendorf pick, as he was one of the best shortstops in the draft.
 Q: 
nate from minneapolis asks:
With the Twins depth in pitching and outfielders throughout the organization, don't you think it would have made more sense to draft some infielders in the first round like brett lawrie or connor gillaspie?
 A: 

Jim Callis: Most teams focus on the best available player in the first round. I can't fault them for taking Aaron Hicks over Lawrie. I like Gillaspie a lot but I always sensed that BA thought he was a first-round talent more than teams did.

 

  

 

Friday Night - Twins 6, White Sox 10

 

Any Twins thoughts?

 

Twins Minor League Updates

Friday SethSpeaks Player of the Day – Howie Clark, Rochester Red Wings
Friday SethSpeaks Pitcher of the Day – Frank Mata, Ft. Myers Miracle

 

ROCHESTER REPORT
Friday – Rochester 4, Buffalo 3 (11 innings) – Howie Clark hit a two run homer in the bottom of the 9th to tie the game. Jose Morales singled in Garrett Jones with two outs in the top of the 11th to win it. Clark led the offense, going 2-4 with his eighth double and second homer. Philip Humber started and gave up three runs in the first five innings. He walked none and struck out six, an excellent improvement. Casey Daigle then threw two shutout innings. Julio DePaula gave up a hit and a walk in 0.2 innings, but no runs. Carmen Cali got him out of that inning. Bobby Korecky went 2.1 innings of scoreless relief. Mariano Gomez walked the one guy he was brought in to get out. Tim Lahey got the final out.

 

NEW BRITAIN NEWS
Friday – New Britain 2, Altoona 3 – We keep talking about Luke Hughes and how he needs to move up to Rochester. Well, he is hurt again, this time a groin injury that will sideline him for a while. Steve Tolleson is probably the guy that we should be talking about. In this game, he went 3-5 with his 16th double and is now hitting .335 on the season. Oswaldo Sosa gave up just one run on seven hits and two walks in six innings. He struck out four. Jay Sawatski came in and fell to 1-4 with the loss. He gave up two runs on two hits and a walk in two innings.

 

FT MYERS MEMOS
Friday – Ft. Myers 1, Brevard County 2 (12 innings) – You may have heard that Tyler Robertson was put on the seven day disabled list with tendonitis. Hopefully it is just precautionary, or even better, a means of keeping his innings down. Along with needing to replace Danny Vais, the Twins called up two pitchers, Henry Reyes and Michael Allen. If you check out their stats with Elizabethton last year, both were very good. Reyes started and gave up on runs on a hit in 2.1 innings. He walked four and struck out none. Frank Mata gave up three hits in 3.2 shutout innings. He also struck out three. Jose Lugo struck out four in two shutout innings. Blair Erickson struck out two in his inning. Rob Delaney gave up a run on two hits and a walk (while striking out two) in one innings. Michael Allen pitched a scoreless inning, but then with one out in the 12th, he gave up a run to take the loss. Not much offense in this one. Yancarlos Ortiz went 2-4. Whit Robbins was 2-5. Danny Valencia went 1-3 with two walks.  

 

BELOIT BITS
Friday – Beloit 8, Kane County 4 - Brian Kirwan picked up the win in this game. He gave up four runs on seven hits and three walks in six innings. He struck out five. Charles Nolte then threw 2.2 shutout innings, striking out six. Spencer Steedley came into a mess, but he got the final out for his seventh save. Chris Cates went 3-5 with his fifth double. Ben Revere went 2-5 with his 18th stolen base. Ozzie Lewis went 2-4 with his fourth homer. Chris Parmelee hit a three run homer, his 11th of the year. Steve Singleton hit his fourth home run of the year.

 

Not sure about weekend updates. We shall see.

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